suprfast

for the fourth time i have pulled the crossmember off of the car. im looking for my oil leak. i started thinking it was the oil pan. replaced the gasket(only silicon) twice thinking i may have missed something. thought my oil metering pump was leaking. took it off and replaced copper gaskets. replaced the gaskets from the pipe that goes to the turbo to around the oil pan area. now it looks as if its coming from right around where the motor mounts and oil pan meet. is there a special gasket or something that should go there. something special with the motor mounts that i am not seeing. my driver side mount is SHOT but what will that have to do with leaking. someone please. tell me this isnt what i get for going to synthetic just a few weeks ago. what can it be. who else has had this three week long project?
kris

shred

Yes the motor mounts on the bottom of the car can leak oil. My engine is brand new, put in by a very good RX7 mechanic and I get a drissel out of one of my motor mounts. I was going to post a thread on the finer points of plugging these up. Looks like there is a ton of eraser looking goo around mine but they didn't really stop all the leak.

Something that I used on an other car (not an RX7 and not on a motor mount) to plug up a potential Exxon Valdez leak that was in a gap. There is a form-a-gasket that comes in a can that looks like cheez-wiz. **** is very black and stains anything it touches but I tell you, massive gap filler. You just have to be sure that all the surfaces are clean of any oil before you start, takes about 10 hours before you can get the spot we again, but once it cures, awesome, never had a problem again and I could about stick a pencil in the gap that it filled.

As for the mechanics of doing it, I imagine that you need to loosen these bolts, raise the motor or remove the cross member to get at these?? Maby seal the bolts with some sealant like a head bolt on a regular car? This part I don't know the best method of attack. Hopefully someone else has had rather good success with some method.

suprfast

my dad made an observation...the 10mm bolts for the oil pan may be the culprit. let me know if what i say can be confirmed. under the motor mount should there be a 10mm bolt. looks like when i put one on the drivers side mount it is keeping the motor mount from completely compressing against the pan. there are threads showing on the motor mount bolt which leaves me to believe this. should there be a bolt under the motor mount.
kris

aReX-7

iTrader: (3)

That 10mm bolt should be taken out before you put on the motor mount. Let me guess, your motor is a Mazda Reman? Mazda puts a bolt in that hole when they put on the oil pan, but you have to take it off to install the motor mount.

So, here is what you should do. First, drain the oil because the bolts go through the oil pan. Buy some black permatex or other automotive sealant. Remove the motor mount and completely clean the motor mount, bolts, and bottom of the oil pan. Remove the guilty 10mm bolt from the oil pan. (You will notice there is a machined feature in the aluminum motor mount that covers that hole flush.) Apply a bead of sealant around each motor mount bolt hole, fill the open 10mm bolt hole with sealant, and place an even film of sealant on the threads of each motor mount bolt.

Reinstall the motor mount, take a shower, and you should be good to go. You might want to wait a day or so before you drive it to let the sealant set. Remeber to put in oil back in

Good luck

Jeff

shred

Remeber that crap, still have some from a 302 rebuild I did for a friend. Didn't even cross my mind. Anyhow, great advice. Do you have to worry about movement when the mounting bolts are out?? or should the engine keeps its alignment anyhow.


Thanks again, there goes another weekend and some more black crap that won't come off your hands.

suprfast

you guys are awesome. thanks a million. i would be able to tell you guys how much i appreciate everything if the forum didnt run like crap all the time. none-the-less, i will be doing this when i get home from work and school tomorrow. finals are coming up and i dont need to worry about the car anymore. what a time to switch to synthetic. this is getting rather pricey. small price to pay i guess. im sure i now have the cleanest oil on the forum as i have gone through 10 bottles in less than 20 miles. DOH. good thing i have a great supplier
kris